December videos.

Simon and Sparky from Sarah Black on Vimeo.


Christmas Morning 2014 from Sarah Black on Vimeo.

 
Amelia and Elsa Sing, December 2014 from Sarah Black on Vimeo.

 
Oliver sings. December 2014 from Sarah Black on Vimeo.

 
Simon laughs. from Sarah Black on Vimeo.

More Christmas Day.

We had German pancakes for breakfast. It was more of a brunch by the time we finished opening gifts. The rest of the day was spent playing with all our new toys, finishing puzzles, chatting with family members in other states, watching movies, and trying out Ben's new basketball hoop.

Amelia got lots of books for Christmas. My parents gave her the Percy Jackson series and she burned through the entire series over Christmas break and is almost done with the rest of the books. She is really into Greek mythology now. I wish I had as much leisure time for reading as she does.

The girls love their new hair accessories from Grandma and Grandpa Black.

Simon quickly developed a love/hate relationship with Elsa's dog. He loves to watch it flip and constantly brings me the dog and wants me to turn it on. But then he's sort of terrified of it. I watched the dog "chase" Simon until he had backed himself under the desk. I couldn't stop laughing. And quickly found the camera. (Video to come.) His many facial expressions say it all.

Video chat with the Vermont crew.

Christmas Morning

I think I say this every year, but Christmas morning with kids is the best. I love being woken up by the kids in the morning and seeing their excited faces, always ready to burst with excitement. They usually can't stop moving or smiling or talking. We made them pause on the stairs to take a photo and the anticipation was killing them. It was fun to have Grandma and Grandpa there to witness the Christmas morning excitement and squeals of joy.

Crappy phone pictures in poor lighting. But I love the excitement.

Discovering the Santa gifts is always lots of fun. The girls love their new dollhouse. It's on wheels and is double sided which makes it easy for everyone to play with at once. We never had room for a big one in our old house and the girls were hoping for one this year. I loved our small "modern architecture" dollhouse so I was glad the new one at least had cute wooden furniture. All of the furniture was individually wrapped so the girls had fun opening it up room by room. Elsa really wanted a talking bird that repeats what you say and Santa brought her one, along with a dog that barks and does back flips (still didn't deliver on the real pet though). Simon loves his new shopping cart and pushes it around the house at dangerous speeds. Oliver asked for a "carpet" (a play mat for his cars) all month long and Santa delivered. Both boys love the Fisher Price ramp, which kept them busy for hours on Christmas day. Simon loved sneaking chocolates from everyone's stockings.

My sister made this custom Apples to Apples game for everyone ("Apples to Olsens") that has pictures of our family and memories from our childhood. It was really fun to look at all the old photos.

Oliver refused to continue opening presents until we set up his marble tower. Which Simon quickly tore apart.

Simon taking a rest. With pants on his head.